The Lavender Butterfly

Chapter 41

Sunlight blinded my eyes as I sheepishly opened my eyes and squinted at the sun pouring in through the blinds. “Allie, it’s time to get up,” I said. “Just a few more minutes,” Allie mumbled, her head still lying next to mine. “Okay Allie,” I replied endearingly as I stroked my hands through her hair. Now that I had opened my eyes, I was wide awake. I was excited about what the day would bring. Maybe nothing would materialize today, maybe it would. But I knew that Meredith was working very hard on trying to get me back home. I could sense it. There was no sense waiting around for it, though. I wanted to enjoy myself as much with my friends here before I came home. I laid there for the next few minutes. I looked next to me at Allie’s tired face. She looked so happy to be with me. I knew that I couldn’t give her what she truly wanted, but I think she understood the night before. At least I hope she did. I was pretty sure that we were going to stay friends for a long time, even if we were going to be living miles away from each other. “Allie, I’m going to head downstairs and eat some breakfast, do you want to come with?” I said. Allie yawned as she said, “I’ll be down in a few minutes,” as she nestled back into her pillows. I walked downstairs to see Amaya at the counter eating a bowl of Froot Loops. “Good morning, Amaya,” I said. “Good morning, Olivia,” she said with a smile on her face. “Did you sleep well last night?” she continued, as she was crunching down on her cereal. “Yeah…..I slept well,” I replied. “Where’s Lauren?” I said. “She’s still sleeping, I’m just down here eating by myself,” she said. “Mind if I join you?” I said as I poured a bowl of Froot Loops for myself. “Sure,” she replied. “We should do something fun today,” Amaya said. “I don’t know, we’ve been doing a lot of fun things lately,” I replied. “Do you have any good ideas?” I continued. “I don’t know, it’s just a Tuesday. Tuesdays are boring. I want to do something big today. And do something big tomorrow, and we can go see the fireworks over by the boardwalk on Thursday,” she said. “Fireworks?” I thought to myself, but then I remembered that the Fourth of July was just a couple of days away. I might not even be here by then to celebrate the fourth with them. I was starting to share the same sentiment as Amaya. I wanted to do something big, at least before I returned home. Just a fun last day or two with the friends I have made. “I have an idea,” I said to Amaya. “Why don’t we spend a day at the boardwalk?” “Ooh, that sounds fun, we haven’t been there in a while,” Amaya said. “And we can go back again on Thursday to see the fireworks!” she continued. “Yeah!” I replied, drawing off her excitement. Amaya continued to tell the story about last time she went to the boardwalk. With all the good fortune I suddenly had, my mind was wandering, so I was kind of tuning her out. Amaya was a very sweet girl, but there were times that it seemed that she would never stop talking. She kind of reminded me of Chloe in a way. Both of them were cute as a button, but man, could they talk! “Good morning, everyone!” Molly said as she walked in with Allie and Lauren. “What was all the commotion down here?” Molly said to us. “Molly, can we go to the boardwalk today?” Amaya said. “Amaya, we’re going to the boardwalk on Thursday night for the fireworks, why do we need to go today?” Molly replied. “I dunno, what’s wrong with going twice?” said Amaya. Allie looked at me then at Molly and said, “I think I agree with Amaya, we should go today. It’ll be fun!” Allie turned to me and whispered in my ear, “Just in case you aren’t here on the fourth, I just want to do something fun with you one last time.” I looked at Allie and winked. Molly looked at us all and said, “Well, I guess we could go, but I didn’t exactly have money set aside for us to go today…” Lauren chimed in and said, “That’s okay, I’ve got my tip money for the last couple of nights at work.” “And I’ve still got 115 bucks that Meredith gave me last week,” I said, remembering the money I took out of my wallet when I tossed it into the ocean a week or so back. “If you guys are okay with it, I’m okay with it,” Molly said. “Why don’t you girls eat some breakfast and get dressed and ready to go? I’ve got some paperwork to finish up on, but give me about an hour and I should be ready to go,” Molly continued. Molly looked over at me. “Olivia, can we go into the office? I’d like to talk to you about something.” “Okay,” I replied. Amaya made a pouty face. “Hmph! You guys are always keeping secrets from us!” Amaya said grumpily. Molly chuckled as we walked toward the office. Molly closed the office door behind us. “Olivia, I have some good news. Great news, really. I just got off the phone with Susan earlier. She told me that they located your birth certificate!” she said with a smile on her phase. “Yes!” I replied excitedly, trying to act surprised. “You…..already knew…..didn’t you?” she said to me. I nodded yes. “That’s what your meeting with Mike was at the airport last night, right?” she said. I nodded yes again. “Mike showed me the birth certificate. He…. just wanted to confirm with me that it actually was my birth certificate. He didn’t want me to say anything until he relayed the information to Susan,” I said. “Hmm…. I guess that makes sense,” Molly replied. I changed the subject and asked about Meredith. “Is my mom coming down here to adopt me?” I said hopefully. “I haven’t heard anything from Meredith, but Susan did say that she was going to call her after she got off the phone with me. She’s probably talking with her right now as we speak,” she said. “Knowing her, she’s probably going to jump on a plane as quickly as she can,” I replied. “You’re probably right,” said Molly. “Come give me a hug Olivia, I’m so happy for you!” she said as I rushed her to give her a big hug. “Now why don’t you go get ready, I’ve got a few things to finish up with,” she continued. I walked out of the office lighter than air, with the biggest smile on my face. Lauren took note and said, “Olivia, what’s…. going on?” I replied, “They…. found my birth certificate. I’m getting adopted!” Cheers erupted around the table, as the girls all took turns giving me hugs. “See, I told you not to give up hope!” Lauren said. “Yeah, although I’m still surprised it happened. I’m still kind of in shock,” I replied. Allie piped in and said excitedly, “Let’s go finish getting ready. We’re going to celebrate this occasion by doing something fun together!” “Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Amaya cheered, as we all paraded upstairs to get ready. Allie and I both rummaged through our drawers hastily, looking for outfits to wear to the boardwalk. “So, how are you feeling about everything, Olivia? I bet you’re getting really excited about Meredith coming down here!” Allie said, taking off her pajamas and putting on shorts and a pink tank top. “Yeah, I am,” I replied. “I don’t know when she’ll be down here. Molly said that she hadn’t heard anything from her yet. She’s probably getting on a plane as we speak, knowing her,” I continued, pulling out a pair of shorts and a baby blue tank top, similar to the style that Allie was wearing. “What if…..Meredith isn’t coming?” Allie said. “I beg your pardon?” I replied, caught off guard by her question. “What if something got hung up in the system, and she couldn’t adopt you? Or, perhaps she doesn’t want to adopt you at all? Maybe she has given up on adopting you,” she said hypothetically. I gave Allie a cold stare. “What are you saying, Allie?” I retorted. Allie, dialed back and sheepishly said, “I mean, maybe you don’t get adopted, and you could spend more time with me….and Lauren, Amaya, and Molly, too!” I sighed. “Allie…. I don’t want to leave you. You’re my best friend. If I could bring you with me I would, but I have a family to go home to,” I said, heartbroken. Allie gave me a hug and said, “I’m sorry Olivia, I…. I’m just going to miss you. That’s all. When you do leave, can you make me a promise?” “What kind of promise?” I asked in return. “Can you promise that you’ll call me whenever you can?” she asked. “Absolutely! I’m going to miss you. I’m going to want to talk to you a lot! After all, best friends stick together, right?” I said. “Right,” she replied. “Best friends forever,” she continued as we both hugged each other.